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Critics who abuse judges on social media should be put on trial, the Lord Chief Justice has suggested.

Lord Burnett of Maldon said the possibility of prosecuting online trolls was "should be looked at" but warned that it was often too difficult to find the identity of the person involved.

His comments come in the wake of abuse online of judges involved in the Alfie Evans case, in particular Mr Justice Hayden, the High Court judge who ruled in February that the terminally ill child's life support could be withdrawn.

A petition calling for the judge to step down and describing him as a "disgrace to our legal system" had received more than 14,000 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.

Lord Burnett told the Lords Constitution Committee that abuse "hurled at judges in the courtroom" was often shrugged off but in persistent cases "the contempt jurisdiction should be explored more fully".

Responding to a question from leading barrister Lord Pannick QC about using contempt of court laws to prosecute trolls, the head of the judiciary said: "The problem with many of the social media type abuse is that it's impossible immediately to identify who the abuser is.

“If people are thinking of applying they may be asking themselves the question 'why should I put myself through what might happen'?”

"Inevitably if it's come through one of the ordinary social media platforms it's often anonymised.

"I'm afraid I don't know how easy it is to discover identities behind pseudonyms. But it's certainly something that should be looked at.

"You will appreciate that occasionally the police do become involved and they do take action, and also, regrettably, it's been necessary on behalf of a handful of judges to take civil action in our courts, to obtain appropriate orders restraining people from doing things which are quite inappropriate.

"So we're alive to all those possibilities but I'm grateful to you for highlighting the contempt one."

He said the abuse was "capable of undermining the rule of law because it erodes confidence in an institution which doesn't deserve to have its confidence eroded".

The Lord Chief Justice also said the abuse was contributing to a lack of applicants for senior judicial positions.

"There is no doubt that it is dispiriting and sometimes genuinely frightening for our judges.

"It is a factor which inevitably may play into the recruitment of judges. Put crudely, if people are thinking of applying, particularly in some jurisdictions, they may be asking themselves the question 'why should I put myself through what might happen'?"

He added that judges on some tribunals and in the family courts were particularly likely to receive abuse online.

Raising judicial morale was one of Lord Burnett's stated aims when he became Lord Chief Justice in October last year.

He told the Lords that the recruitment crisis threatened to undermine the worldwide reputation of British justice.

"The current difficulties with judicial recruitment in my view, pose a threat to our ability to discharge the business of the courts effectively.

"It affects the ordinary work of the civil, family and criminal courts, dealing with cases between individuals, businesses or the state, that affect the daily lives of many.

"Additionally and importantly, the difficulty of recruiting to the High Court threatens to undermine the worldwide repuation of the judiciary of England and Wales and reduce the attraction of London as the international centre for dispute resolution."

In 2016 six out of 14 High Court vacancies were left unfilled.

On Wednesday the Ministry of Justice announced a new diversity scheme aimed at encouraging more women, black and ethnic minority people and disabled people to become judges.

The online education programme will offer applicants extra help and give them access to discussion sessions led by judges.